Method of oiling cotton raw stock



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Patented Aug-1d, 1925.

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RUBERT BIGHAM SMITH, OF MACOI Q'; GEORGIA, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND ASSIGNMENTS; TO BURKE, SCRYMSER TOR-ATIQN OF NEW JERSEY.

METHOD OF QILING No Drawing. Application filed November To (all whom it may concern:

Be it lmown that l, Ronnn'r BIGHAM Sirrrn, a citizen of the United States, and resident ofldacon, the county of Bitch and State of Georgia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of @iling Cotton Raw Stock, of which the following is a specification. The invention relates'to a method of conditioning by oiling cotton fibre when in the form of raw stock and'before it has been carded and spun into yarn. p

In the manufacture of cotton into yarn the fibres are carded, parallelled, and twisted around each other. Cotton fibre is distinguished from all other fibre in the peculiar twist it possesses and by its long, solt, flexible, and silky staple. While its peculiar soft texture renders cotton fibre oompara tively easy to manipulate and worlr throu h difierent machines incidental to its manufacture into the finished product, still the machining of these soft, silky fibres gives rise to certain difficultie's in the mallh- chiming oi the stock. For instance, the

drawing and spinning operation generates static electricity on the cotton fibre which causes the fibres to resist each other, to stand apart, and flare out at right angles to the length of the yarn. This, tendency towards surface disintegration not only weakens the resulting yarn, but seriously interferes with the proper processing of the fibre.

Attempts have been made to dissipate the static charges on the sliver by mill humidification, which consists in moistening the air, but this has not proven satisfactory. Water .has'been sprayed upon the fibre to neutralize the formation of this static electricity, but the water evaporated and otherwise this treatment has not proven eflieetive. The cotton stock has been sprayed with solutions ofsoap and water, or emulsions of soaps and vegetable oils in water. The objection to the use ofthe soap and water treatment is that. the soap disintegrates with age, changing its chemical nature, and physical form,

thereby defeating its pur ose as a lubricant and softener. The; useo vegetable oils and emulsions or mixtures of these oils is objected to for the same reason'as-th soaps, that is, these oils are drying or semi-drying CGMPANY, 01 NEW YORK, 13'. TI, A'QUBF corron naiw s'rocK.

8, 1924. herial No. 748,765.

which are sticky and otherwise objectionable for the purpose of treating cotton to assist in the manufacture of the fibre into goods for the market. The use of these solutions and liquids has been confined to the manufacture of waste cotton and cotton of short fibre length primarily to prevent the excessive losses in manufacture and hold as much weight to the finished product as possible and without intent to affect any conditioning of the material.

The primary object of the invention is to treat the raw cotton stock either while in bulk or during one of the initial machining operations in such way as will minimize the formation of static electricity and inciden to permeate the stock results in the fine fibres adhering substantially in parallelism during the drawing operation and provides 7 internal lubrication which reduceslrictional resistance between the material and the machine parts during the succeeding machining operations, as well as reduces the resistance between the individual fibres, as they adjust themselves totheir determined location in the body, of the yarnas it is formed by these machining operations.

-Due to its inherent chemical properties and etficient lubricating properties a pure mineral lubricating oil has been found best for the purpose. This oil may be used in its natural color after a suitable refining has been carried out to render it of the proper viscosity and gravity for the purpose ntended.

While the use of mineral or-petroleum oil, used pure and without otheringredients, is featured in this disclosure due to its cheapness and efficiency in its softening and lubrieating quality other less efiicient oils ma. be used for example castor oil and lard 0' hit In some instances where it is of advantage to ship the finished yarn in its natural or grey state and while impregnated with a small quantity of oil, the oil used should be such as will not color the product. In such cases it is herein intended that a colorless, bleached or waterwhite lubricating mineral oil be used the'commercia-l grades of which are not regarded as volatile and can have a flash point as low as 110 F.

,The oil is sprayed or sprinkled onto the raw stock before assuming the drawn out stage of yarn and as the fibres are pulled over one another and repeatedly doubled incidental to the succeeding machining operations, the oil will be evenly distributed and absorbed so that practically every fibre will have approximately its proportionate share of oil.

The amount of oil used will depend on the viscosity and gravity of the oil, upon the character of the cotton fibre and upon the use to which the resulting yarn is to be placed. In general, suliicient oil must be used to attain the desired results, but not so much as will interfere with the passage of the material through the machinery. In the case of mineral oil, which has been found most practical for the purpose, the amount used varied from one-half to one to four percent by weight of the stock treated. It has been found that if the weight of the oil used materially exceeded four'percent ofthe weight of the material treated, .it will cause the stock to adhere to the machine processing of this stock into finished goods.

When it is desired to remove the oil from the finished material certain emulsifying agents, well known to those skilled in the art, may be used; the general procedure is to add to the boiling out process of the goods suitable soaps, borax, alkali or other chemicals which substances will remove from the goods the mineral oil when applied in the manner described in this process.

The presence of this small quantity of mineral oil does not interfere with the chemical or any subsequent treatment of the stock for manufacturing purposes when applied in the manner described in this proc ess. Its presence. is an advantage in certain operations such as in a knitting or weaving where it insures lubrication andan easy slid-.

ing of the knitting yarn through the various parts of these machines and renders-unnecessary any separate oiling of the yarn. The yarn made from stock treated as herein described produces goods of a softer and more supple nature than would be the case if this pre-oiling treatment were omitted. o

It hasbeen' found experimentally that as the result-of the treatment herein disclosed the p tch angle of the spirals formin the cotton fibre becomes more sharply inc ined thus causing the length of the fibres to become longer. It has also been found that the breaking strength of the yarn is .increased.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In the art of preventing the presence of static electrical charges from affecting the fibres during the drawing process incidental to the manufacture ofyarn from raw cotton stock, the method which includes the step of subjecting the stock to a treatment of a non-volatile oil in a finely divided liquid state before the stock is drawn.

2. In the art of treating raw cotton stock, the method which includes the step of, applying lubricating oil in liquid form to the stock prior to the completion of the drawing operation and permitting the oil to permeate the stock during the drawing of the fibres.

3. In the art of treating cotton raw stock incidental to the manufacture of the same into cotton yarn having a soft, supple character, the method which consists in spraying the stock with a non-volatile mineral oil prior to the completion of the drawing process.

4. In the art of treating raw cotton stock,

the method which includes the step of treating the process of drawing the fibres into yarn, the method which consists in causing a colorless lubricating oil to permeate the fi'bres.

. 7 Inthe art of treating cotton fibres, during the process of drawing the fibres into yarn thefmethod which consists in causing an oil to permeate the fibres, saidoil being present in liquid formand in an amount less than four percent by weight of the amount of fibre present.

' 8. In the art of treating cotton fibres for the purpose of preventing the undesirable effects of the presence of static electricity thereon, the method which consists in diffusing through the material a charge of lubricating oil in liquid form.

9. In the art of treating cotton fibres for the purpose of preventing the undesirable .efl'ects of the presence of static electricity thereon, the method which consists in dif fusing through the material a charge of 'mineral oil while in a finely divided liquid state and in an amount less than four percent by weight of the material treated.

10. In the art of treating cotton fibres, the weight or not more than four percent by method which includes the step of causing weight of the cotton. 15 lubricating mineral oil to permeate the 13. A cotton product comprising untwist- 'fibres and thus provide for internal lubried and undrawn fibres treated with 1i uid 5 cation. oil to cause the pitch angle of its splral 11. An untwisted cotton containing a lufibres to become more sharply inclined andbricating oil present in an amount of less thus cause the length of the fibres to become 20 than four per cent by weight of the cotton longer than the same fibres when not so and on which the oil is distributed uniformtreated.

1 1y throughout the same. Signed at Macon, 1n the county of Blbb 12. A soft supple cotton saturated with a and State of Georgia, October A. D. 1924. lubricating mineral oil present in an amount not less than one-half of one percent by v ROBERT BIGI-IAM SMITH. 

